BUCYRUS — The beautiful hanging baskets lining Sandusky Avenue downtown are only there for a few months., but they’re months in the making.
It’s a volunteer project, with help from the city, which starts in the spring when the flowers are purchased, planted and carefully positioned on street light poles from Charles to Mary streets. But now, a new crew has the task of keeping them watered.
All 28 baskets. Every day. For 16 weeks.
“The fun part of it is we get so much feedback,” said Susan Maynard, who along with her husband, Pete, chair the beautification project and take turns with the watering task. “People honk at us when they go by, and they sometimes stop to talk.”
The Maynards, who have enlisted the help of a 35-member watering team, took over the beautification program last year from Mary Lee Minor, who had coordinated it for decades.
“This is new to us, but much of the legwork was done,” Susan Maynard said.
Starting at the city building and heading north, crews maneuver a new Cub Cadet down the sidewalks equipped with a 50-gallon water tank and sprayer. One person drives while the other waters, saturating the colorful plants high above with the water-fertilizer mixture.
Tom and Millie Naftzger of Bucyrus have been faithfully watering for three years now. Like others on the summer schedule, they have signed up for a one-week shift, which runs Sunday through Saturday. They know the routine.
“We just know the Maynards and said we would help,” Millie Naftzger said, spraying wand in hand. “Bucyrus is a good place. A lot of people help. It’s kind of nice because you can do it any time, at 7 a.m. or, like today, we played golf first and then came out.”
Ken Cameron was following the couple to learn the ropes. He and his wife, Deb, who have always admired the city’s seasonal showpieces, are training for their one-week stint in July, which also includes the four arrangements at the entrance to Schines Art Park.
“Between the flags and the flowers in Bucyrus, it’s beautiful,” Cameron said, admiring a nearby basket brimming with miniature petunias and red dragon wing begonias. “Driving through town you definitely know someone cares.”
Donations and a grant from the Community Foundation for Crawford County help fund the project. As in the past, the flowers were purchased from Carmar Gardens and city workers pitched in by hanging the moss-lined baskets and securing them to the poles.
“The city is crucial. We’re a team project,” Maynard said. “People are so committed. People are wonderful. I’ve had people say, ‘I’m going to do this as long as I can because it’s a lovely addition to our community.’”
